Why Wales’ schools need good governance now more than ever

Jane Morris

When it comes to the school system in Wales, we hear a lot about certain roles, from policymakers and directors at the top to school leaders and teachers in the classroom.

But there’s one key role that provides a crucial level of support and challenge in the system that often goes unnoticed – that of the school governor. There are approximately 19,000 school governors in Wales, all of whom give their time, experience and expertise voluntarily to help our schools.

Governors are responsible for the quality of education in their school, and they help set its vision and strategic direction. They act as ‘critical friends’, who monitor and evaluate the school’s performance, support and challenge its headteacher, and ensure the school is accountable to the pupils, parents and local community it serves.

Despite these important responsibilities, school governors are all too often overlooked and underappreciated. Various surveys show governors often feel undervalued and that the general public don’t understand their role. This can sometimes lead to misconceptions and cause difficulties for schools in recruiting governors with the right skills.

However, with the education system in Wales going through a period of significant reform and facing several challenges, the role of the school governor is now more critical than ever.

Take curriculum and qualification reform. Since 2022, schools have been implementing Curriculum for Wales, a skills-led curriculum designed to give teachers more freedom in the way they teach. GCSEs and other qualifications are being reformed to align with the new curriculum, due to be introduced for year 10 students later this year.

Challenges

Curriculum for Wales has been a huge undertaking for schools and teachers, who have had to design their own curricula from scratch. But governors have also been key to this work, overseeing the development and implementation of the curricula in their schools, as well as ensuring they meet the needs of pupils.

There are currently several serious issues affecting schools in Wales, causing challenges at all levels of the system. All of these challenges will require the input and support of governors at some point.

For example, we’re all aware of the most recent international PISA test results in 2023, which showed Welsh pupils were performing worst out of the UK nations in maths, reading and science. The next set of tests will be taken by pupils this year, with the results published in 2026.

Whether we see any improvement remains to be seen, but the Welsh Government’s own reading and numeracy test results for 2023, published last year are not encouraging. They revealed reading standards of 7-14-year-olds have fallen since the pandemic.

Governors play a key role in improving school standards. They have a duty to promote the highest standards of educational achievement and to regularly review the progress made. If Wales is to improve its literacy and numeracy results, never mind its PISA scores, governors will need to be part of the solution, holding their schools to account on their results and supporting them to improve.

Schools are facing challenges in recruiting and training teachers and support staff across various subjects and specialisms, and there are particular concerns over the number of teachers needed to meet the rising demand for Welsh language education. As the governing body determines a school’s staffing level, approves its pay policy and makes appointments, this will be an ongoing challenge for governors, too.

There are also issues with funding, as cash-strapped local authorities have had to cut education budgets, leaving many schools in deficit. This has forced schools to make redundancies, cut intervention programmes and delay building works. In each case, governing bodies will have had to agree to these measures in the best interests of their school. If budgets tighten further, governors will have more difficult decisions to make in the coming years.

Behaviour

Finally, many schools are struggling with issues of behaviour and attendance, problems which seem to have got worse since the pandemic. While teachers and support staff deal with these issues directly, governors often pick up the fallout, such as deciding whether to uphold exclusion decisions or dealing with parental complaints. If these problems persist, the role of governors will become even more crucial in supporting their schools to overcome poor behaviour and barriers to attendance and to ensure suitable policies are in place to improve the situation.

So, as you can see, the role of the school governor is varied, but vital. And, as the education system in Wales addresses multiple challenges, its importance will only increase in the coming years. If we are to overcome these challenges and create a school system that delivers effectively for all pupils, governors will be a key part of the solution. Our schools need excellent governance now more than ever, and governors need to be acknowledged and appreciated for the part they play in their success.

Jane Morris is a Director of Governors Cymru Services, which provides a range of support to inspire and promote effective school governance